July 29, 2010

On July 29th, 2010 we got some great news! We saw this.....


Here's the Dad-to-be...minutes after I told him that he was going to be a Dad. He was making our lunches for the day. In fact, that was my last turkey sandwich...you know the no deli meat thing has really throw my lunch off.

It consumed my thoughts all day, for days...because Mike didn't want to tell anyone. So we waited a few weeks and then when I couldn't NOT tell anyone we decided to have all our parents and sibilings over for a dinner. Right before we were about to start eating dinner, Mike asked everyone if they wanted to see a cool picture we had taken from Montana and everyone said sure. So on our TV pops up this....

I tried my very best to capture it on my video but I was too nervous and it didn't turn out very good. You can see my sister's reaction which makes me laugh, and you can hear my Mom squeel/scream. Just so I have it on the blog here it is:

We had our first dr's appointment in August and we had our first ultrasound. We weren't expecting to see anything so we were really excited when they gave us a few pictures. A few minutes after the ultrasound we were looking at the pictures and I made the comment "I always hear people saying that it looks like a bean, or a peanut....but I think ours looks kind of like a turtle." And so our kid already has a nickname. Turtle is due April 8th! We are THRILLED! :)

Montana - Part 3

A few pictures from Glacier National Park....it was breathtaking!

Montana - Part 2

Montana Part 2 shall consist of pictures from the Missoula Half Marathon.

Mike graciously 'volunteered' to get up super early (somewhere around the time of 4:45ish if I remember correctly) and drive us to the start line....and then quickly learn his way around the course to find the perfect places to snap some in action photos.

This was us right before we got in the formation at the start line. The sun was just starting to come up and it was just beautiful. And you might notice that we're in North Face jackets...Nat gave me one as a gift and they were perfect since it was chilly that morning.

After reading about 1000 blogs on review of half marathons and marathons, I decided that I wanted to be one of those people who run with a camera. So I bought an ifitness belt and stored lots of goodies in it for the race. I got the double pouch belt so i put the camera in one pouch and some sharkies and a gu in the other.


This was my first attempt at taking pictures while running. Nat is a little blurry but you can see by the smile on my face I was having the time of my life. It was such an amazing feeling to set a goal with your best friend and then 7 months later...after training separately on opposite sides of the country to be in the moment and realizing...I'M RUNNING A HALF MARATHON! I don't think I'll ever forget that feeling from that morning.


This was one of the many shots that Mike captured during our race. After the race Mike told me he could always spot us because my hair was swinging from side to side....I guess you can see what he was talking about in this picture.




This picture was around mile 9 or 10....we were starting to get tired and put in our ear phones to pump us up and keep us moving.

The finish line was amazing! There were people everywhere, cheering and clapping. And as you were approaching the finish line they were announcing your name. At the very end Nat and I kicked it up a notch and ended up finishing strong. Mike, Josh and Madalyn greeted us at the finish line with huge smiles. It was perfect.

Our official time was 2:52:14...and I'm proud of that. We really just wanted to finish and to say that we'd finished it in under 3 hours. We definitely left some room for improvement for the next one.

I can officially mark the half marathon off my bucket list! :)

Montana - Part 1

Last Friday we headed down to the Atlanta airport bright and early to catch our flight to Montana. We had been planning this trip since January so we were very excited that July was finally here. After sitting behind Grandpa poopy-pants the entire 4 stinky hours (some old man farted every 5 minutes...literally), we finally made it to Salt Lake City for a quick layover. Then it was onto a smaller plane which took us up to Kalispell.

I had the great idea to pack my running stuff in a carry on...that way if they lost our baggage I'd at least have my running gear for the half marathon. Well, Delta didn't seem to find it a priority to find a spot for my carry on and took it from us and made us check it. I just knew my running shoes were going to end up in Honolulu (which is where that plane was headed after Salt Lake City). Sure enough, when we got to Kalispell my carry on bag was no where to be found....I was in a slight panic. All I could think about was the horrible blisters I was going to have from buying new running shoes. As it would turn out, my carry on made it on the next flight from Salt Lake to Kalispell. All that worrying for nothing....

Anyways, Friday afternoon we picked up lunch from Quickee's, a delicious little sandwich shop in Whitefish. After lunch Natalie showed us around her cute little town and then we headed up to Big Mountain where we went on the lifts to the top of the mountain. I guess I should mention that I typically am not afraid of heights...although being on that ski lift made me VERY nervous. At one point Mike raised the bar about 1/2 an inch and I couldn't think straight I was so scared. I think I might have cried a tear or two. Of course, he laughed at me and I made him promise not to tell anyone. After that I had the death grip to the bar, just in case my oh so funny husband was shooting for another good laugh. Once we got to the top we stood in awe of the beauty. It was just beautiful.

Saturday morning we all piled into the car and headed down to Missoula. It was a 3 hour car ride but we were in good company AND the scenary was just beautiful as well. We got out to take pictures a few times.

Once we got to Missoula, we checked into our hotel and then ventured over to the expo to pick up our race numbers. It was a disaster. The line to get it clogged and they ran out of women's half marathon shirts. I had to sign up for them to send me my shirt via mail...I hope I get it.

Part 2 - coming soon.

I'm alive!

I guess it's time to update the ol' bloggity blog...I've had several requests...so here it is.

Last time I posted I announced that we got a new camera. I have had lots of fun snapping pictures and capturing birthdays, Amanda's graduation, of random thing in our house and our petunias. More on the petunias in a bit. One of the reasons it's been almost two months is because my personal netbook is having issues connecting to the Internet at home (so I'm borrowing sweet Mike's work computer to do this post)...therefore, I don't have any pictures for this long boring update.

Lets see....Mike's birthday came and went - he got a new putter, new snazzy golf shoes and a new golf bag. He looks like a hip new golfer. :) Mike and I celebrated him ringing in the 2-8 by having a yummy dinner at Maggianos.

Mom's birthday came and went - won't disclose her age because I'm afraid of death threats...but none the less we had a great dinner at a little place that I can't remember the name of. :) Good times.

My birthday came and went - I got a camera - we've already discussed this. Mike took me on a date to Wildfire for my birthday dinner. It was delicious...one of my favorite places to eat!

Mike went on a fishing trip with his Dad to Fort Myers. I was planning on going to to Panama City but I found out the week of that the condo was already being rented...so I stayed home and relaxed. I met up with two lovely ladies, Rebecca and Zoe and we had pizza and then strolled at the outdoor mall.

My sister, Amanda, graduated high school. Lots of rednecks had fog horns...we did not. After graduation we went down to the boat and had burgers and just enjoyed each other's company. Mike and I gave Amanda a book call "My Naked Roomate" --- it's lots of stories/tips about going to college. I saw it in the bookstore and started flipping through it and realized that I wished I had read a book like that before I went off to college. Lord knows, I was in for a RUDE awakening. There's enough stories there for a year's worth of blog posts.

Memorial Day rolled around and we spent the weekend just hanging out around the house. We went and looked at cars for Mike - which ended up being a great tease.

June 2nd came around and we decided that we would in fact go buy that awesome car that we both fell in love with. Mike drove his brand new 2010 Infiniti G37 off the lot looking like he ate a hanger. He still LOVES that car. It is pretty awesome.

Father's Day weekend, Mike played in a golf tournament with my Dad. They won their flight and went into the shoot out (aka the playoff's). They did great and ended up getting beat in a chip off. :( Overall, they did great!

For Father's Day - I spent the day with my Dad. We went for a walk in the morning, ate lunch at the club and then went to the pool for a few hours. Surprisingly I did NOT get sunburned - although I think I might have a slight allergic reaction to the sunscreen because my legs have been itching non stop since I put that lotion on them. We finished Dad's day off with Mexican.

And now that brings us to this weekend. We had a pretty lazy weekend and it has been great. Yesterday, we went to chic-fil-a and then went and played at Lowes. And as for today...I may or may not have waited until 4:30 today to take a shower and brush my teeth. And, I may or may not have ate chips for breakfast.

As for a running update...I don't have much to say because I've been a little bit of a frady cat. Several weeks ago, I started reading up on why my knees were so achy after my runs...I self diagnosed myself via runnersworld.com that I was having some issues with my IT bands. Its cause from not stretching enough, upping mileage too fast, or just over-running. It can cause some serious runner injuries...so I backed off....and during that time I've sort of lost my running mojo. My longest run was 10 miles. I've been trying to keep moving during the week on the treadmill since it's been hot like the Sahara here. I thought about running early in the morning before work but I can't seem to plant my feet on the floor before 6am....even with fervent prayers for God to intervene. I've decided that I started training for this half marathon entirely too early. I got burned out before my race got here and now I'm just praying that I don't injure myself within the next two weeks.

Next weekend is the Peachtree Road Race --- which speaking of that came in the mail this past week...this year was the first year that I actually got assigned a time group/wave based on a previous race. And, the weekend after next I'm off to beautiful Montana. I've been chatting with Natalie on a regular basis and I think we're both in the same mind set....excited and maybe a little nervous. I am just so happy that we are going to accomplish this goal together.

And I think that's it. Hopefully, we'll figure out what's wrong with my netbook and I'll have some pictures next time.

Say Cheeeeeese!

This is my new toy. Actually, its our new toy...but it's my birthday present. We picked it up on Saturday night. I have taken appromitely 83,526 practice pictures. I can't wait to learn more about our new nifty camera. This little gem will capture a lifetime of memories and I am SO EXCITED!

So Long Insecurity!

This past Saturday I met up with some sweet girlfriends and we all went to see Beth Moore at FBC Woodstock. I have been trying to get through the book for a few months, but I'll be honest...I've struggled with 'putting on my new self.' I learned this past Saturday that I'm being silly and I've been holding on to my pride. I still haven't finished the book yet, but I WILL FINISH THE BOOK. If I know you in real life I have probably thought about you at least once since I've been reading this book (seriously, Mom, Amanda, Ashley, are you reading this? You can borrow my book once I'm finished) and it's not a bad thing at all. I just want to share with the people I love how to deal with some of the same things I'm struggling with too :)


I am in the midst of reading the book and I wanted to note a few things that I have been able to relate to, in one way or another.

• Insecurity can make you act like an idiot in female relationships. Is it horrible that I've been so insecure that I've been afraid to introduce two girl friends because I was afraid that they would like hanging out with each other more than they would like to hang out with me? Geez, just typing this I sound like a high schooler. Ugh, so embarrassing.


• Insecurity can make a Mom to be overcontrolling or just generally out of control. I'd like to tweek this to say Wife, since I'm not a Mom yet. There have been so many times that I have been so insecure while Mike was out of town for work. I've had those crazy, "I'm not with him, I can't control what he's doing or who he's talking to or who he's looking at." Clearly, this is NOT Mike's problem. This is a Michelle problem. Again, as I am typing this out, I feel like an idiot.


• Insecurity can turn a gifted person into the competition. Hello, old job. The way I was 'evaluated' at my last job was based on how you 'stack up' to your peers. Talk about being competitive...every one is busting their butt to get "exceeds". I often felt like I couldn't or shouldn't ask for help because I didn't want the 'gifted' one to know I didn't know the answer.


• Insecurity weighs heavily in weight issues. Not so much the weight issue for me, but I have definitely struggled with being comfortable in my own skin. I'm going to try to let that all go and BUY that running skirt even if I don't have 'runner legs'...yet. ;)


• Insecurity can talk us into doing things we don't even want to do. Hello, high school and college days. I think everyone falls to peer pressure at some point in their life. Heck, there are a lot of things I've done in my life that I'm not necessarily proud of, but I think everyone has. So, its time for me to let those things go too.


• Insecurity can make us give an entirely wrong impression. Wow. This one is absolutely me. I'm a shy person. Reserved. And I've been told more than once that this tends to send out 'snobby' vibes. I'm making an effort to be more out going and to not be so shy. In fact, I really came out of my comfort zone at Beth Moore when I ran into a bunch of blog friends (strangers) and I hugged their neck and introduced myself. That is definitely NOT me. And, I'm armed with the proof:

I'd just like to add that I was NOT having a great hair day because it was rainy and humid and gross outside...but....back to letting go of those pesky insecurities!

And from Chapter 8...Insecurity can roar it's ugly head when....

• Your boss calls you into their office to speak to you.
• Somebody give a presentation in class right before yours...and it's fabulous.
• You met someone you really admire and said something stupid.
• You have a new haircut. And it's hideous. (Oh yes, I've had a bad hair cut - I wrote about it here)
• Your husband's on a business trip, and you can't get ahold of him. (see 2nd bullet point above)
• You poured your heart to someone and they didn't get it.

I hope to add to my 'favorites' after I finish the book. But until then, please be patient with me. I'm a work in progess. And, I'm on nobody's time, but HIS time. :)